The Grit with Sayna Fardaraghi

The Grit with Sayna Fardaraghi

On filmmaking, flow state, instagram as an occupational hazard, and balancing between soul projects and money jobs

Valerie

Oct 08, 2026

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The Grit

is a Club Reticent series where I have beautiful conversations with my favorite women about their creative lives.

Sayna Fardaraghi is a British-Persian filmmaker. Her work describes itself as a feminine and sensitive happening, and it focuses on ephemera and little subverted ways of seeing each other and being seen. She’s done work for Marc Jacobs, Cou Cou Intimates, Diesel, Burberry, and GAP. Her most ​recent narrative short

Glint

premiered on NOWNESS, and her first fashion film was featured in Vogue & ShowStudio.

Sayna and I met on X, formerly Twitter, back when she was just starting out, and I had a Matty Healy-inspired username. Since then, I have been a loud supporter of all things Fardaraghi: her distinct, directorial, voyeuristically female-focused ways of depicting life are very important to me. I’m delighted to have her on

The Grit

today – keep reading if you wanna see two water risings going real deep on the trials and tribulations of living a creative life in 2026.

Valerie:

What does work look like right now?

Sayna:

I’m balancing between commercial projects, which I call money jobs, and projects for the heart. It’s good having that sort of balance, and it really does fund my passions. I think it’s important to invest in oneself, but it’s key to reach that sense of freedom.

Valerie:

It must be quite a switch creatively: working on your own films VS a brand campaign. How do you approach big money jobs where you don’t always get to execute your vision?

Sayna:

The money jobs make everything else super rewarding: there’s friction in them, and I think that polarity between the two just informs you so much more than everything going perfectly and you being always perfectly on track, only doing what you want to do. I don’t think you gain any sense of perspective at all if you just keep doing that. Sometimes, when I’m struggling with anything, whether it’s work or creatively speaking, I always just think six months back. Every time you look back in time on the past six months, it puts things into perspective. And it all falls into place. So it’s just trust in the process, and believing in what your gut is saying as well, which is really important.

Valerie:

How do you maintain integrity when doing something you love also happens to be your business?

Sayna:

It’s hard when you have a distinct point of view. The line of my work is very feminine, and then sometimes big jobs come along with such different concepts, but that can be really exciting. Bridging the gap between how I see myself and how I work with these money jobs, the more corporate gigs, is just finding little ways that I can put my fingerprint on things and push it in the right direction. I’ve found that the thing people are most invested in is the jobs that you do that have no funds behind them, where it’s just you and your vision. If you do that enough times, I think that eventually becomes your real work that people pay big money for.

With big corporate jobs there are so many opinions and it all dwindles down to nothing, so they come to people with very distinct points of view to gain that creative sense of self for the project. The most important thing is I always check in on myself and make sure that I’m investing in myself. Like I said, I do these big money jobs and then I put money aside for my own project, one that I know is going to enrich how people see my art throughout the next stages of my career.

Valerie:

Has there been a point where you stopped feeling like you had to fight to get a point of view across, or to feel seen and heard as a director?

Sayna:

I’m at a very early stage in my career and I’m still developing, so I still have to fight the good fight. It’s gratifying when people come to you on projects where they trust what you do and I feel like I have a lot of authority, but a lot of the time it also isn’t that way.

Of course there are some times where, if it’s not working, I just lean into it and give the people what they want and move on, because you can’t fight everything. You have to pick your battles. I think the most important way to step in with any project is just to know your boundaries and show where your skill is. Don’t be afraid to come off strong. It’s good to know what you’re talking about, and I think people respect that so much more, and in turn they respect your opinion as the project moves along.

Valerie:

And when do you feel most fulfilled and happiest in your work?

Sayna:

When I reach flow state, and everything is perfect. I love being on set, and when everything feels so comfortable and it’s exactly the vision that you had come to life, it is the most gratifying thing in the whole world.

With my sector, working in film, it takes so long to get anything from conception to the endpoint, and in turn, who you are at the point where you first see this one idea is a completely different person creatively and physically. So every time I make something, by the time it’s done I’m like,

that’s so old.

That’s not how I present myself now.

That used to be the historic thing all the time. People would be like,

I love this, you’re so this.

And I’m like,

actually, I’m not. I don’t identify with that anymore.

Lately, I’ve felt very happy and gratified, because what I’m presenting right now is me at my core, and I’m glad that people can see that.

Valerie:

This really does happen. I’ve had people tell me to my face they loved my writing two years ago. I don’t always know what to make of it, because I feel like I’m evolving and growing. But it’s okay not everyone is on board.

Sayna:

A big part that is a struggle nowadays is that everything feels so marketed.

I catch myself strategizing: how do I post things best? How do I make my work more commercially digestible? But sometimes you just have to lean into the natural way things conceive in your brain, and the way you conceive ideas, and just push them out there and not really think of it from a marketing standpoint.

Valerie:

I saw a writer arguing against creatives being on social media – we all know this, and that it corrupts us, but it feels inevitable.

Sayna:

It’s an occupational hazard!

Valerie

: When you’re working on a project, what are you most neurotic about?

Sayna:

Shot lists. I get a little crazy. I’m hyper-organized, and the way I do these treatments and these decks, I think it’s because I also double up as an art director now for money jobs, it becomes a massive thing. But I love doing it, just focusing on these gorgeous treatments and on the shot list. I tend to be so detailed and so insane about it sometimes, but it really does pay off on the day, because I find that having that hyper-preparedness allows you to feel safe, and then you can break away from it and just play around. You have something to fall back on.

And sound design. I’ve always wanted my work to feel tangible, and I always talk about the ephemeral factor in my work, so I believe sound plays such an integral role. part, because it makes things feel even more at arms reach - with film, you’re really using only two of your senses. So I want it to be heightened and as atmospheric as possible. I always apologize in advance to the sound designer, like,

I’m so sorry, I love your work and I’m going to uplift you, but also pick out the most annoying little tiny bits to tweak.

Valerie

: Micromanaging is totally warranted and fine as long as you preemptively apologize. And now on the flip side, how do you unwind within the work?

Sayna

: I have a tendency to spiral, because the work volume ebbs and flows. Sometimes so much comes in, and then it’s absolutely quiet. For me it’s writing things down. I have a very specific tiny set of post-it notes, and I write tiny little goals and I put them on my wall, and even if they’re crossed off, they stay up there. Whenever I’m freaking out, I look up at them and think wow, I actually did this and that already. It puts things into perspective for me. And I also just journal whenever I have time.

Another tradition I have is every year on my birthday I take a couple of Polaroids of myself and then typewrite a corresponding letter. It includes keywords: key people, key brands, key whatever. And if I’m spiraling a bit, I look back and reflect on how much has changed and been accomplished. Everything’s so fast-moving nowadays, so just having a time capsule to refer to puts me back into a good space.

Valerie

: This is golden advice, Sayna. As someone who has carved her own career path, what has been a specific learning that you can share regarding finding your own way?

Sayna:

I think taking risks has been really important to me. Something that I always think about is what’s the worst that could happen? Because I started off figuring things out by myself and I didn’t really have formal training or a community, I felt like one small person in this tiny little world, and in that sense I found it really difficult to reach out to other people, or ask for help, or even send out emails. That was such a terrifying thing to me. But when I started doing that, it really transformed my life.

So having that sense of trust in yourself, and then just thinking about what is actually the worst that could happen helps. Honestly, nothing bad is going to happen from sending a cold email.

Valerie

: Is it being audacious that transformed your career the most?

Sayna

:

I think it’s taking a leap that’s really transformed it.

It’s a water sign thing, but I can really go into my shell and find it difficult to ask for things. I don’t want to be one of those people who are very transactional about getting into the world. But most of the time, as practice shows, the people I’ve reached out to, or planned on reaching out to, reach out to me first or said yes to me. Closed mouths don’t get fed. You have to just go for it and push forward.

Valerie:

I want to be careful with the next question, because I’m not trying to Hillary Clinton-ize this conversation and keep it nuanced, but do you agree that leveraging this audacity is harder as a woman?

Sayna:

That’s an interesting question. Sure. Age is a big thing, being a woman is a big thing, being a young woman is a big thing, and also being a woman of color is a big thing.

All these preconceived notions of how people will perceive you beforehand as well, because everyone Googles each other online, they play a role.

My male peers or bosses speak their mind and are blunt about everything, whereas I’m always going in with lots of care, trying not to disrespect anyone – in turn, you tend to lose respect because you’re not being headstrong. So it’s a bit of a chess game you play with yourself. It kind of sucks to go through, honestly.

One time, I was directing, and this DP wasn’t respectful, so my friend was just like: Sayna, see it a sitcom. Just do your thing and mind your business, and this grown man not listening to you because he has some preconceived notion about you changes nothing in your life. You don’t even know this guy. So, sometimes changing your mindset goes a long way.

Valerie:

We all need friends like that, much more helpful than someone freaking out with you.

Who are your creative influences, Sayna?

Sayna

: One woman who has been very important to me is Lucrecia Martel. She’s such an amazing filmmaker and her work is so intimate. Recently all my work is focused so much on intimacy, and it’s the kind of thing I’m building on at the moment and trying to save funds for. But I think she just has such an interesting way of seeing the world, and her films are so textural.

I also fell back in love with Apichatpong Weerasethakul. He’s a Thai director and a very big pioneer of slow cinema, but his work is just so otherworldly. I love cinema like that, and I love not being linear about the way I say some things or show some things, I want to do that more. I think those two together have been a big inspo for me.

Valerie

: What are you currently working on?

Sayna

: The Diesel campaign just came out – that was a big one for me. On the personal project side, I’ve spoken a lot about intimacy, I think you pick up on a lot of tiny things from the way another woman looks at you, or the way you’re in a room and how the gaze moves around the room. I’ve been working on a triptych which focuses on intimacy between women throughout the different ages. That’s what I’m really excited for and going to start working on soon, which will be fun.

Valerie:

And what are your personal goals for the next year?

Sayna

: This year has been so fruitful and I’m grateful for it, because I’ve been traveling a lot for work and doing a lot of things everywhere. I think I just want to keep pushing my directing to a point where I don’t have to do a day job anymore, that would be so amazing. Or at least having a day job that feels a bit more aligned, because sometimes you have certain campaigns that you work on and it pays well, but it doesn’t make you the happiest.

I think it’s crucial to expose yourself to things that feel fulfilling in any way possible.

So that’s one goal: directing more, and feeling like I’m constantly exuding and putting the 10,000 hours in myself. It would also be nice to have an agent again. I’m also thinking of moving to New York.

Valerie

: Do you feel good and aligned when you’re in New York?

Sayna

: In my line of work, and the energy, and the friends that I have there, it feels really good for me. But I guess we’ll find out. I’m going to be back there in a couple of weeks’ time. With LA, I’ve been there a lot and it’s fun, but it’s definitely not for me.

Valerie

: Nice. Aside from work, any personal goals you’re thinking of?

Sayna

: Just to be happy, to stay happy and fulfilled on this journey. I’m no longer at a stage where I’m fighting for my life, so I tell myself: girl, everything is in your own hands. You can just make a world for yourself, you know?

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